How to start plastic free living?
What's the problem with plastic anyway and why start living plastic free?
Many people are striving to master the art of plastic free living all over the world, and why not? Our ancestors and even to a certain extent the generation of our grandparents and great grandparents managed just fine without the need to purchase, use and discard plastic in the name of convenience.
However before we start down the road towards plastic free living we may need to educate ourselves on the problems that all this single-use plastic is causing in our world, lets sit back and watch a short video on the subject. WARNING this video contains imagery which may shock or disturb!
Plastic Ocean – United Nations Channel – YouTube
Eye opening, shocking and highly disappointing stuff hey? So what can we take from this video in order to help change this situation?
Well the nearest person that can help to stop all this pollution from single-use plastic is… you!
So therefore how can we help the situation?
Well we can start by telling other people about this problem so more and more of the population are aware of the situation and begin to become conscious of the potential what is happening with all the plastic we use and discard on a daily basis.
People can then begin to make new decisions in the way they make purchases and live their lives in order to bring plastic free living into their everyday existence.. why not start today by sharing this article to your friends on social media!
Spread the word and wake up the planet!
Lets start plastic free living today!
So we have got angry, upset and annoyed about what’s going on in the world and the environment. We have shouted from the rooftops that all this single-use plastic pollution on the planet has got to stop. What now can we do about it, and how do we start plastic free living today?
Well since all is not yet lost, there are a number of alternatives open to us.
To start with we need to educate ourselves further on the whole topic of plastic pollution, so we can make sound and informed decisions on how we may change our lives and routines in order to help to begin putting an end to it.
This will also help when trying to make other people aware of the problems with plastic because we can come across as being well informed about the subject and people are more likely to stop and listen to us and engage in conversation. How do we educate ourselves?? Well for instance we can start by reading books, watching videos and searching the web!
Here are some books we recommend:
Change yourself and learn to live Plastic Free!
Easy! So now you’ve educated yourself and want to put a stop to your own personal consumption of single-use plastic, and are ready for some plastic free living its going to be all plain sailing from now on… isn’t it?
Well unfortunately its not quite as easy as it seems on face value. Once you begin on this journey you will quickly be amazed at how difficult it is to escape from a behaviour pattern that you now realise that you and most other people around you have been part of for so long.
Because our whole way of life has become accustomed and almost completely dependant on the convenience that single-use plastic and the throwaway culture has given us its a very difficult habit to break. Things we usually take for granted such as buying a drink from a shop when we are thirsty will now take on a whole new degree of difficulty as we realise the extent to which plastic has played such a big part in our lives up until this point.
Luckily your not alone in your quest for a plastic free life and there are many brave adventurers who have already gone into the wilderness. Although this change may seem difficult to begin with pretty soon the decisions we make and actions we take will begin to become second nature to us. In other words don’t worry, life will get easier again with time and we will pretty soon be feeling good about our new lives as we stop making plastic waste part of our lives.
Lets look at a video by someone in pursuit of total plastic free living
What Are You Wasting For? | Documentary by Jennifer Jane Jones shared via YouTube.
Products to get started with plastic free living and where to buy them!
So with the help of some essential reusable products we really can begin on our journey towards living the plastic free lifestyle and help to play our part in stopping the pollution caused by single-use plastic today before its too late.
Buy investing in just a few essential reusable plastic free products we can quickly see a dramatic change in the amount of plastic we’re consuming and can work towards leaving a dramatically smaller plastic footprint on our environment.
Below we have selected some of the best and most popular reusable products to you with handy links to where they can be quickly and easily purchased online. Join thousands of people who are now putting these to good use in their every day lives whilst they embark on the road towards plastic free living!
1. Reusable Coffee Cups.
Reusable coffee cups are a must to have if you want your favourite drink on the go without any plastic waste. Single-use cups may look like they are made from recycled paper but they all have a plastic lining actually making them unrecyclable.
With many coffee shops now offering a discount if you bring your own cup, then there is really no excuse not to make these a part of plastic free lifestyle.
2. Reusable produce bags really are a must have!
Reusable produce bags are a life saver when it comes to plastic free living. If you go to any supermarket today and head for the fruit and veg section we are faced with either the plastic wrapped prepackaged option or if their is a loose option then we are almost expected to grab a small clear plastic bag and pack them for ourselves.
We don’t need to do this! Just by purchasing a few reusable produce bags made from natural materials and taking them with us on our weekly shop, we can put a stop this unnecessary waste.
3. Buy a reusable steel water bottle and never throw away a plastic bottle again!
Buying a reusable steel water bottle and carrying it with you everyday is simply the best habit we can acquire. With an estimated one million plastic bottles being consumed worldwide every minute its easy to see our relationship with this type of single-use product has to stop. Start a new and much more environmentally friendly relationship with a new and stylish reusable water bottle today!
4. Stainless steel lunchbox! Buy one to carry your lunch, a takeaway or even fill at the deli-counter.
Stainless steel lunch boxes are not only tough and stylish reusable products, they really can help to reduce the plastic waste in your life. Buy either carrying your homemade lunch, asking a takeaway to put your food directly into your lunchbox, or asking the local delicatessen to use it instead of the usual disposable plastic ones we can drastically cut down on plastic consumption.
5. Reusable plastic free and 100% natural shopping bags.
A reusable shopping bag is a must have item to carry with us everyday. Governments have already started to clamp down on the use of plastic bags so why not speed up the demise of this wasteful item by buying a much nicer plastic free and natural alternative? From small tote bags which can be tucked away in a pocket or handbag to bags from natural materials which double as stylish fashion accessories, the choices to use in our plastic free lifestyle are vast.
6. A Bamboo Toothbrush?
Bamboo Toothbrushes are a great choice for plastic free living. Just think of all the plastic toothbrushes you have bought, used and thrown away in your whole life… Now realise that most of these are still around somewhere in our environment and will be around for possibly thousands of years to come!
By choosing to use bamboo toothbrushes we can drastically reduce our plastic footprint. Most of these products do contain plastic bristles still but these however can be removed and put in the bin and are only a very tiny amount of plastic compared with the standard plastic toothbrush. The bamboo handle can then be composted naturally in the garden or disposed of in in green waste recycling. Make the switch to a bamboo toothbrush today!
7. Finally and most importantly... START CARRYING A BAG WITH YOU, EVERY DAY!
There’s one thing which has lead the use of so much throw away single-use plastic around the world which is now causing so much pollution in our environment… Convenience! With this convenience also comes along its ugly brother… Laziness!
In the past people just simply carried a bag with them when they left the house, containing a few essential items they would need for their day out. A bag would obviously also be needed to bring home things that were bought or gathered during the day such as food. As we have now come to rely on disposable products where ever we go many of us now leave the house with only a phone, keys and a credit card.
As we go about our daily lives we know that if we need a drink, some food, or to buy some thing then its OK if we don’t have the means to carry it as this will always be provided with our purchase in the form of a single-use plastic product. We can simply make our purchase, enjoy, and then dispose of the waste, keeping ourselves free of the hassle of forethought and planning and having to be lumbered with carrying anything with us.
Well we if we look at the items above, possibly minus the toothbrush if you like, then that’s not really much to carry with us at all. But if we would all just start carrying these reusable items around with us and making use of them daily then the amount of throw away single-use plastic entering our environment would drop massively overnight.
So in conclusion, why delay? We need to stop to this habit of relying on convenience, quit our laziness and go and get a nice fashionable preferably plastic free bag, fill it with some essential reusable items, and START PLASTIC FREE LIVING TODAY!!
